I'll being stopping by our local KFC buffet this week! 
Posted on 06/14/2006 5:58:38 AM PDT by rhema
The fast food chain KFC is being sued for the fat content in its fried chicken, which Center for Science in the Public Interest says contains "staggering amounts" of trans fat.
One three-piece Extra Crispy combo meal has 15 grams of trans fat, which is more trans fat than a person should have in one week, says the CSPI.
"The class-action suit… asks that the court prohibit KFC from using partially hydrogenated oil, or that at the very least, signs be posted in KFC outlets notifying customers that many KFC foods are high in trans fat," said a CSPI press release. The suit was filed in Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
"Unlike McDonalds, where fries are a side dish, here the main item on the menu has staggering amounts of trans fat," said Jeff Cronin, CSPI's communications director.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, trans fat is made when vegetable oil is hydrogenated, or when hydrogen is added to it. This process increases the shelf life and flavor stability of these foods.
However, KFC spokesperson Laurie Schalow issued a statement saying that the suit was frivolous and lacked merit.
"We take health and safety issues very seriously," the statement said. "We provide a variety of menu choices and provide nutrition information, including trans fat values, on our website and in our restaurants so consumers can make informed choices before they purchase our products."
Her statement also said that the company is "reviewing alternative oil options, but there are a number of factors to consider including maintaining KFC's unique taste and flavor of Colonel Sanders' Original Recipe, supply availability and transportation, among others."
Many clinical trials have shown how unhealthy trans fats are, said Dr. Meir Stampfer, chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.
"These include raising LDL (the bad) cholesterol, lowering HDL (the good) cholesterol, increasing weight, and impairing insulin resistance."
However, not everyone thinks a lawsuit is the answer to getting Americans to consume fewer trans fats.
"Legislation to achieve this makes more sense than litigation," said Dr. David Katz, associate professor of Public Health and Director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine and an ABC News contributor. "While I think it's too extreme to sue food companies over everything that is wrong with product composition, it does help get their attention."
Katz said that warning labels may help alert consumers about the health risks in certain foods. If warning labels are placed on ingredients that are unnecessary and potentially harmful, then trans fat would be one such ingredient that needs such a label, he said.
However, "If you put a skull and crossbones warning on every fast food package containing trans fats, that might help get the message to consumers, but the responsibility to ensure a safe food supply rests with the FDA," said Joanne Shearer, a registered dietician and team leader of the Food and Nutrition Services at Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota. Many experts also believe in the importance of educating the public.
"A warning label is not enough. People need to be educated and understand why eating foods with high levels of trans fat is unhealthy," said Lona Sandon, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and an assistant professor of Clinical Nutrition at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
In the long run, this may have the biggest impact, Katz said.
"The best way to change what the food industry does is to change consumer demand [since] demand trumps supply," he said.
No, if people like their food they should be able to choose to eat it. 2,069
Yes, their menu has too many unhealthy items. 708
Total Vote: 2,777
Then go eat somewhere else.
Rosie: "The spoon made me fat!"
The FAT exists between the ears of the tort lie-yers.
Commie rat b@stard socialist pig lovers that they are.
Precisely.
ps. I think I will go the Colonel today for lunch....thanks for helping me plan my day.
It ain't the high level of fat that is unhealthy. It's the low level of physical activity.
"Legislation to achieve this makes more sense than litigation," said Dr. David Katz, associate professor of Public Health and Director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine and an ABC News contributor. "While I think it's too extreme to sue food companies over everything that is wrong with product composition, it does help get their attention."
And personal freedom and responsibility makes even more sense.
Scratch one secret spice off the list.
Someone should sue these scumbag lawyers for trying to "Fatten" their wallets.
Commie rat b@stard socialist pig lovers that they are.What have you got against pigs?
This group is my pet peeve. It's no big secret fried foods aren't good for you if you eat them on a continual basis. Wish someone would do someting about CSPI
http://activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/oid/13
No, no, no. Both legislation and litigation are bad. How about saying it is none of the government's business. If a restaurant wants to open and serve steaming glasses of hydroginated vegtable oil and customers buy it, then let supply and demand handle it.
Scratch a liberal and you'll find a totalitarian who isn't quite ready yet to get blood on his hands to rule how he wants.
LOL
This is nothing but trial lawyers trying to scam for big bucks off the fast food industry
BTW I think we should all go to KFC for lunch/dinner this week
I think I'll have the Colonel for lunch.............
I wouldn't eat anything from KFC if I was starving AND you put a gun to my head. But this law suit (and the idiots perpetrating it) is just sick and sad.
We need a legal system like Great Britain's. It's called LOSER PAYS. If you bring suit and you lose, then YOU are responsible for the winner's legal fees!..........
As long as they haven't gone after Popeye's yet...
"I wouldn't eat anything from KFC if I was starving AND you put a gun to my head."
Why not, did you have a bad experience at one?
"Scratch a liberal and you'll find a totalitarian who isn't quite ready yet to get blood on his hands to rule how he wants."
Quote of The Day.
On more than one occasion, yes. Mostly overcooked, dried out (the chicken itself) and hard pieces with the batter absolutely dripping with grease. But I've also had thigh pieces that weren't fully cooked. And besides, I make better fried chicken than any fast-food joint, so why would I eat at KFC?
Let me suggest the 6-piece Honey BBQ Wings. They're marvelous one-stop shopping for fat and cholesterol, and maybe you'll be lucky enough to give apoplexy to a food policeman lurking nearby.
Calories 510
Calories from Fat 279
Total Fat 31.0g (48% of daily value)
Saturated Fat 8.0g (40% of daily value)
Cholesterol 135mg (45% of daily value)
Sodium 970mg (40% of daily value)
See my personal recommendation in #25.
I like KFC chicken but my gallbladder can't take it. I don't see any reason to file a lawsuit though.
Ummmm, I think that's why they call it FRIED chicken.
If you think it's unhealthy, don't eat it. No one is forcing you!
I use the term "lovers" in the biblical sense...but I do apologize to pigs everywhere.
no. I will just get a single chicken breast....original recipe(dont need the triglycerides of the extra crispy) and no sides at all....I will wash it down with a vintage flavored seltzer.....I have cherry flavored this week.
"Scratch a liberal and you'll find a totalitarian who isn't quite ready yet to get blood on his hands to rule how he wants."
Best. Quote. EVAR!
Didn't Rush joke that this was coming back in the early 90's?
I'll being stopping by our local KFC buffet this week!
MMMmm! I think I'll have the gigantic bucket dinner tomorrow night.
Can't have it today -making my famous chicken alfredo.
BTW, KFC's leftover chicken chopped and stirred in with rice-a-roni makes for a great treat.
What!? Deep fried chicken is fattening!? That statement almost made me drop my bacon double cheeseburger.
That's about what I'd usually get, with a biscuit and cole slaw tossed in. I was just waxing hyperbolic about the wings to give the vapors to any would-be food wardens lurking on the thread.
>One three-piece Extra Crispy combo meal has 15 grams of trans fat, which is more trans fat than a person should have in one week, says the CSPI.<
Fifteen grams of transfat IF you order it with the fries. They include the chicken with skin, plus the biscuit.
You can order the chicken, with green beans or slaw. If you take off the skin, and skip or don't butter the biscuit, the combo makes a decent dinner.
And just why do you think they targeted KFC and not Popeye's or Churches? Couldn't have anything to do with this being a SCAM and going after the one with the DEEPEST POCKETS could it? Hmmmm...?
If they were really, truly concerned about the public's welfare they would have gone after all of them. Tells a lot.
Exactly. It is like someone suing Playboy over Carpel Tunnel Syndrome :-)
Next there will be required government inspection of America's kitchens for trans fat excess and signs posted on every kitchen door. Methinks the nose of the lawyers are trying to poke under the tent.
Who are the members of the suing class? I suspect they don't even have standing to sue. The solution to their supposed problem is easy. Just keep driving until you find a tasty macrobiotic fruit and veggie store. Leave the taste and cholesterol to those of us who are willing to chance it.
Thank God there's a basket underneath my Red Robin 1/2 lb A-1 Peppercorn burger with endless fries. I'd hate to think what would happen if I'd dropped it on the floor & couldn't finish it.
A-1® Peppercorn Burger
Sizzling, hickory maple-smoked bacon, melted Pepper-Jack cheese, A-1® peppercorn spread, crispy onion straws, onions and tomatoes on an onion bun. It’s a taste explosion!
These kind of lawsuits reek of fascism. The people are too stupid to take care of themselves so some entity has to do it for them. This authoritarian hierarchical government is very dangerous to free choice. Some moron somewhere does a study and declares that henceforth it shall be done this way or that way. Why not just publish the results and let the people react as they would choose?
Geez, it's fried chicken! That says it all. Why change the menu? If you want something healthy, go somewhere else. KFC has the right to serve whatever they please.
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